The Teaching Profession

Strategies for strengthening teachers and their working conditions

Teaching Innovation: New School Staffing Strategies Inspired by the Pandemic

School staffing strategies that developed during the pandemic, the conditions that enabled them, and how educators overcame barriers to the innovations

A Policymaker’s Playbook for Transforming Teaching

The District of Columbia Public Schools’ transformation of teaching into a performance-based profession

Q&A: Goldhaber on the Teaching Gap’s Troubling Consequences

Why low-income students are often stuck with the least experienced teachers

Educators and ESSER: How Pandemic Spending Is Reshaping the Teaching Profession

A comprehensive picture of state and local ESSER spending on the educator workforce

Master’s of None: The Fallacy of Advanced Ed Degrees

The questionable practice of rewarding teachers for earning advanced degrees

Q&A: Kraft on Why Reforming Teacher Evaluation Has—and Hasn’t—Succeeded

The push to improve teacher evaluation and resistance it has encountered

Scaling Reform: Tennessee’s Statewide Teacher Transformation

Tennessee’s redesign of its teaching profession

The Teaching Profession

By the Numbers

Teacher Salaries & Rent Prices

  • 15

    Cities where a one-bedroom rental is unaffordable for a new teacher with a bachelor's degree

  • 9

    Cities where a one-bedroom rental is unaffordable for a new teacher with a master's degree

Source: NCTQ

Teacher Pension Costs

  • $21.8 billion

    Teacher pension costs in 2001

  • $63.7 billion

    Teacher pension costs in 2021, adjusted for inflation

Source: Equable Institute

Teacher Starting Salaries 20-21

  • $32,495

    Average starting salary for teachers in Montana

  • $56,313

    Average starting salary for teachers in DC

Source: National Education Association

Principal Stress During the Pandemic

  • 83%

    Principals who reported frequent job-related stress last school year (2020-21)

  • 59%

    Principals who cited supporting teachers’ mental health as a main source of stress

Source: Learn Together Surveys

Teacher Hours

  • 54

    Median hours worked per week by the typical teacher

  • 25

    Median hours spent teaching students

Source: The Merrimack College and EdWeek Research Center

The Teaching Profession

All Work

New Insights into Motivating Students

Read More about New Insights into Motivating Students

Research Notes: Teacher Incentives Lead to Better Student Outcomes

Read More about Research Notes: Teacher Incentives Lead to Better Student Outcomes

Research Notes: How Incentive Pay Can Attract and Retain Teachers

Read More about Research Notes: How Incentive Pay Can Attract and Retain Teachers

Legislative Tracker: 2023 Teacher-Pay Bills in the States

Read More about Legislative Tracker: 2023 Teacher-Pay Bills in the States

Research Notes: CTE Teachers’ Training and Student Outcomes

Read More about Research Notes: CTE Teachers’ Training and Student Outcomes

WEBINAR: Teachers Like Us: Strategies for Increasing Educator Diversity

Read More about WEBINAR: Teachers Like Us: Strategies for Increasing Educator Diversity

Research Notes: How Automating Student Feedback Can Help Teachers Take Notice

Read More about Research Notes: How Automating Student Feedback Can Help Teachers Take Notice

Q&A: Backes on New Ways of Measuring Teachers’ Impact on Student Success

Read More about Q&A: Backes on New Ways of Measuring Teachers’ Impact on Student Success

Governors’ Education Priorities in their 2023 State-of-the-State Addresses

Read More about Governors’ Education Priorities in their 2023 State-of-the-State Addresses

Research Notes: Evaluating the Impact of Teach for America: Two New Studies

Read More about Research Notes: Evaluating the Impact of Teach for America: Two New Studies

Research Notes: The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession

Read More about Research Notes: The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession

Webinar: Solving the Teacher Shortage Challenge

Read More about Webinar: Solving the Teacher Shortage Challenge

The Churn

The latest leadership changes in the education sector

Events

Upcoming events at FutureEd and across the education policy world

FutureEd in the News

Media mentions and our work on other platforms